John Therrell is one of the newest members of the Hornet coaching staff, coming to Sacramento State in the spring of 2017 as the safeties coach. The Las Vegas native returns to the West after coaching stints at Murray State and Jacksonville State.

In his first year with the team (2017), Therrell coached Mister Harriel to first team all-Big Sky honors and saw his safeties rank as the top two tacklers on the team. Harriel led the team in tackles with a career high 87 stops. The hard-hitting safety had 5.0 TFLs, including a pair of sacks. He also did his part in pass coverage, recording three interceptions and a pair of pass breakups. Austin Clark ranked second on the team with 73 total tackles. Clark also had three TFLs, five pass breakups and intercepted a pass.

Therrell was a defensive assistant at Jacksonville State where the Gamecocks advanced to the FCS quarterfinals in 2016. Among the players he coached in 2016 was safety Marlon Bridges who was named the Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and a third-team All-American from STATS, Inc. During the season, Bridges led JSU with 79 tackles, forced five fumbles and intercepted four passes.

Prior to taking the post at Jacksonville State, Therrell served as the safeties coach at Murray State in Kentucky.

Therrell played at both UNLV and Murray State during his collegiate career. He spent four years (playing three) at UNLV before transferring to MSU for his senior season. That year, he recorded 45 tackles for the Racers. He ended his career by intercepting a pass on the final play of the game to secure a win over Missouri State.

Therrell played his senior season of high school football at Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas. He earned second team all-Nevada honors after leading the state with eight interceptions. He also played three years at Murray HS where he caught 44 passes for 519 yards and seven touchdowns.

Therrell graduated from UNLV in 2012 with bachelor’s degree in political science. He later added a master’s degree in public administration from Murray State.